Are Homecoming Mums Getting Out of Control? [VIDEO + PHOTO]

I'll admit, growing up in a small town in California I had no idea what a "homecoming mum" was. To me, it sounded like an over-sized button with streamers. We did homecoming with corsages and boutonnieres (I never knew how to spell that until now... Thanks Google). When my cousins in Texas got to high school age, that's when I learned what a mum was.

Now, I've learned that they can get out of hand pretty quickly!

The homecoming mum is not just a Texas tradition, nor southern tradition. I've seen these mums for sale or put on display in the state of Wyoming for the University of Wyoming homecoming, among others. However, the south seems to take everything to the extreme and you know what they say about Texas... everything is bigger.

Recently I've seen two very large mums in north Texas, one in prize and one in size.

First, there was Brittany Eicker who spent almost $600 on her homecoming mum. The giant Texas-shaped mum featuring star-shaped lights took over 15 hours to make.

Then there was Brooke Boyd whose mum could shelter several people during a Texas-sized storm, if needed.

There's no telling what we will see next. For some reason, I have visions of a giant crane situated outside of the end zone of a high school football field hoisting Suzy Q's mum for the entire stadium to see. A mum, so large that it completely blocks out the scoreboard. Hold on now... don't get any ideas.